Before the flight, I squeezed in an hour-long strength session in the early morning. Once I arrived in Mexico, I was craving a good workout. I fit in a 10K run in 54:34 (8:48 ave), at 3 degrees of incline, followed by 40 min of biking. Mexico City is at 1.5 mi of elevation, vs. Johannesburg's 1.1 mi, so I was already adapted from JB (didn't notice too much of a difference there), and I didn't notice a real difference in Mexico City, either... sweet.... altitude training.
Thursday, I did 5.6 mi in 46:22, 8:17 ave. Saturday, 2/23, 60 min of biking.
Saturday, my Mexican colleague invited me to spend the day with his family visiting a cool canal area, which was so kind of them. The canals used to be used to transport goods into the city long, long ago. Now, they're still used for transport by the locals, and the boats are also used to sell music (mariachi bands), souveniers, food, and photo ops to tourists. It was a really colorful area, with the boats and flowers and food and music, and it was a nice place to spend a beautiful day with a really nice family.
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Before that, we had ridden on horses around a park.
I started off my Sunday with a 7.4 miler in 1:05:58 at 6am, at 8:55/mi ave, at 2 degrees. Felt ez, and would've gone further, had it not been for a bathroom requirement.
I rode the bus into the downtown area. I spent a few hours at the large Anthropology Museum, which was nicely designed and not expensive compared to similar museums in other countries.
At first, I went slowly and studied the artifacts, but the place is so big, that by the end, I was just cruising through and only pausing at things that caught my eye. Once I left the museum, I came upon Flyers! Those guys climbed up a tall, tall tower without any safety ropes! Then, they twirled their way back down. One of the guys was playing a flute, and another was banging on a drum, the whole time, upside-down and swinging in circles from a great height.
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Then, I went to the Templo Mayor, Aztec ruins in the middle of the city. Over the course of 2 centuries it was expanded 7x by different kings, and you can see the layers that have been excavated.
Tuesday, 2/26: 10K in 54:39, 8:49 ave, at 2 degrees of incline. Felt harder than it should've been. Considered running the previous night, but legs were still a bit inflamed. Didn't have much water before the 6am run, since the gym's water cooler had run out, too. Had an apple before the run, but I think I prefer having chocolate or something non-insulin-spiking before the run. Went on 5 hrs of sleep, too, so all of those might've been factors.
The people in Mexico were so incredibly hospitable and friendly. It was a great week at work, and a nice weekend, too.
